Sonata de'crescendo
by Juggalomalice
Summary: Discord is loose and no one knows how. A pony who's memories are missing. A world beyond the world. Twilight still has many things to learn. Faster and faster the beat moves forward...or is it moving backwards? Maybe I'm really standing still?
1. Chapter 1

I've been wanting to get into the pony game for fanfics for sometime now, but from what I've read the pony/brony community is a bit more _critical _than others. Not bad, but since I love this series just as much, if not more, than the next brony I feel like there is a quality marker I have to reach. Anyway, let me explain a few things before you start. One, OC pony is present. Run now if you don't like that. Two, OC was originally made for D&D 3.5 and was only recently adapted to MLP. What this means is that OC will retain skills, abilities and spells that, from my experience as a fan, player, and DM, make logical sense in the universe. OC will still lose some abilities. If you have a question you can ask me, but for the most part I'm pretty sure you won't even notice these factors as you read. Three, if anyone of you read my other stories you know I can't write normal romance. I guess the question there is, how normal do I want to keep this story? I love this title and I owe a friend for helping me with it. Well enjoy.

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><p>Sonata de'crescendo<p>

By: Juggalomalice

Chapter 1

This wasn't what she wanted. Things weren't suppose to turn out like this. When Twilight Sparkle had decided to spend the weekend in Canterlot to catch up with her teacher, Princess Celestia, she never expected this to happen. She was suppose to be enjoying herself as she had afternoon tea with her mentor, idle, and friend, but instead she now found herself readily at the Princess' heel as the two of them dashed down the halls of the castle into the garden. Both of them knew that the prismatic spray of colors that exploded from the garden was bad news, they knew that the oh so familiar laugh they heard as they entered the garden was bad news and as they turned the corner they knew that the former stone now flesh draconequus, who stood triumphantly on his former display pedestal, was also bad news.

"Discord!" Celestia spat out upon sight of her ancient nemesis.

"Oh if it isn't the Princess and dear old Twilight Sparkle. I'm not even free for a minute and I'm already blessed with your presence. I feel so loved right now." The spirit of chaos replied mockingly.

"Can the sarcasm Discord and tell me how you broke your seal so soon." The Princess demanded.

"Well I'm not too sure of that myself at this moment. It felt like someone poked a hole in my seal and I guess I started poking the hole a bit myself. Before you knew it the seal was broken. I guess they don't make magical seals like they use to. What's the matter Tia? You seem mad."

Celestia marched straight up to Discord and shot him a furious glare. "I don't know what you're plans are Discord, but I assure you that you won't succeed."

"Really Tia, why are you always so mad every time you see me? Well I'm not sure about you, but I for one feel like celebrating my freedom." Discord replied as he snapped his talons. A bright flash of light resonated as a band of mariachi ponies dressed in full charro outfits appeared and began to play a festive and upbeat song in celebration. Meanwhile a pair of handsome stallions had appeared next to the Princess and as one fanned her with a large palm leaf the other tried to coax her into letting him feed her fresh grapes from a bowl he carried.

"DISCORD!" The alicorn spat out once again in warning.

"Fine." Discord grumbled as he snapped his talons once more and the two stallions disappeared only to reappear next to Twilight. Celestia shot Discord another glare to signify her disapproval. "Arrgh, have it your way." And with one more snap the mariachi and the studs vanished.

Having found her voice by this time, Twilight stood by her mentor's side and demanded, "What are you up to this time Discord?"

"Straight to the point as always. Well if you must know, I'm still very bored. I know!" The draconequus shouted as an idea lit up in his head, "Why don't we play a game of Hide n' Seek. I'll hide and you seek. Sounds fun right?"

"No matter where in Equestria you hide my friends and I will find you and put you back in your prison." Twilight proclaimed confidently.

"Oh Twilight Twilight Twilight," Discord simply said as he shook his head disapprovingly, "Who said anything about us staying in Equestria for our game? You know there's a whole world outside the borders of Equestria and it's been over a thousand years since I've last seen it. I'm very curious on how it's changed. To top it off this land has become so very boring since Tia here took over. I think it would be nice for me to sightsee a bit."

"Outside of Equestria?" Twilight echoed the words slowly. Almost like the idea didn't make logical sense in her mind.

"That's right, but don't worry. I'll be sure to give you some hints to find me." He said as a suitcase appeared next to him in which he proceeded to fill with various random objects including a rubber chicken. "Well I'll mail you a post card when I get to my first stop. Bye." And with one last snap the spirit of discord vanished before both teacher and students eyes.

Princess Celestia didn't waste any time wondering where Discord fled to and turned to her pupil, "Twilight gather your things and prepare to leave for Ponyville immediately. I will have the Elements of Harmony ready for you upon departure. You and your friends must find Discord before it's too late."

"I'm on it Princess Celestia." She acknowledged as she turned around and dashed off before tripping on a strange black mass. "Ouch, where did this dumb rock come from?" She huffed in anger as she gave it a swift kick with her hind leg before she stood back up.

"That really hurt." The rock mumbled weakly.

"What?" Twilight mumbled to herself as realization slowly dawned on her. She walked up to the black mass only to notice that it wasn't a rock but a cloak and as she pulled it aside with her magic she saw a male unicorn no younger than herself who was barely conscious. "Princess Celestia, there's a pony here who's hurt!"

"What?" Celestia exclaimed. She was so wrapped up in Discord that she had failed to see the half dozen or so other ponies that laid unconscious on the ground around them. "Twilight, stay with him. I'll go get help." She ordered before dashing off.

The stallion weakly looked up at Twilight. "Can you hear me?" Twilight asked as she gently brushed his black mane out of his eyes. "Don't worry, you'll be ok. I promise." She assured him before his eyes closed and his consciousness slipped away once more.

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><p>"Huh, my head feels like a herd of bison just did a river dance on it." He moaned as he sat up in his bed and rubbed his head with his hoof. He looked around his surroundings to find himself in a room with nearly a dozen other ponies in beds lined up against the wall. "Oh yeah, I passed out didn't I?" He asked no one in particular. It was at that moment that a flash of panic fell over him as he frantically began patting his body and looking under his bed covers as if searching for something. As his eyes finally fell upon a nearby chair he breathed a sigh of relief. For on that chair sat his black hooded traveling cloak, his traveling pack and his trusty silver inline keytar.<p>

He slowly got out of bed as he walked towards the chair. Apparently somepony had cleaned and brushed his white coat and black mane as he slept. The top of his right ear looked like it had been cut clean off and his stud mark consisted of an elegant ensemble of musical notes next to a theatrical mask of comedy and happiness. Though he wasn't arrogant enough to call himself handsome he was arrogant enough to whole heartily believe the many ponies who told him he was. He used his magic to pick up and equipped each item in turn.

"Usually I like passing out to find myself in a comfy bed, especially if there's a pretty girl next to me, but waking up in what appears to be a hospital, not so much." He joked to himself. "Doesn't seem to be any nurses around. I should probably take a look around." He said as he exited the room only to find himself taken back by the grand regal designs of the castle hallway. "Yup, definitely not a normal hospital." He confirmed to himself as she began walking.

Though his head was still aching, the pony couldn't help but admit he felt lighter for some reason. Like some weird burden had been lifted off his shoulders. _"Maybe I had a nice dream." _ He thought as his mind began pulling up images of a purple unicorn. He found himself grinning unconsciously. _"Yeah, a cute girl like that would have to be a dream. Still I have to wonder…" _he thought as he noticed that he had been walking for nearly 20minutes and had yet to see anyone. "Where is everypony? I've been walking around like I own the place and no one's try to stop me. If I wasn't such a nice guy I'd say that the security of this place sucks." As he continued walking he slowly began to hear voices coming from behind a pair of large regal doors that were half open.

"I've gathered all the Elements of Harmony for you and placed them is this box. Take very good care of this Twilight Sparkle for you know as well as I do that if something were to happen to them Discord would be unstoppable. I've also gathered as many bits as I could spare on such short notice for you and your friends traveling expenses. Make sure to take Spike with you so that we can maintain an open line of communication as well." Princess Celestia instructed her student.

"Thank you your highness. I assure my friends and I won't fail you, but… are we really going to have to travel beyond the borders of Equestria? I've only read books about." Twilight confessed.

"I'm afraid you must. I've prepared some maps for you. They're a bit dated, but I'm sure you can still use them as a reference."

The white unicorn stuck his head around the corner and peeked into the room not wanting to alert the speaker to his presence yet, but he was amazed by what he saw. "_Is that an alicorn? I've never seen one. I heard the stories, but I always took it with a grain of salt and there's that unicorn from my dream. So I'm still dreaming, right? That would make sense. That or I'm crazy." _With the prospect of dreams or insanity as protection he marched right into the room without a second thought determined to discover the reality of the subject.

"Oh it seems one of our guests has awoke as well." Celestia said before Twilight could reply. The lavender unicorn turned around to see the stallion she had helped earlier walking towards her. In fact he seemed intent on her entirely and was even going so far as to ignore the princess.

He stopped several inches away from Twilight and just stared at her forcing the mare to smile awkwardly in response. He suddenly lifted his hoof and poked her gently, almost cautiously on her nose and then her horn.

"Can I help you with something?" She finally asked with a hint of annoyance.

"So you're not a dream?" The white unicorn said before a rather ecstatic and dashing smile graced his face. "My dear lady, you have no idea how glad I am to know that you're real. I was starting to think this headache of mine had caused to hallucinate."

"Oh, well I guess that explains a few things." Twilight admitted though a bit taken back by blissfulness.

"Now, since I know you're real, I need to ask you question." He began as he leaned in closer to Twilight, "Is there a large pony with wings and a unicorn horn commonly known as an Alicorn in mythology standing next to you."

Twilight was again taken back, almost scared by the now plausible idea that this pony was crazy. How else would he not be able to recognize Princess Celestia? "Yes, there is."

The white unicorn released a sudden breath of air as he began laughing. "Thank the stars. I was really thinking I was going crazy. I always thought Alicorns were just a myth, but to actually see one in real life. I'm surprised my mind didn't blow up."

"What? How could you not recognize Princess Celestia?" Twilight finally asked, finding this pony's attitude far too strange to make rational sense out of.

"Princess Celestia? As in the famous rumored Princess Celestia of Equestria?" He asked as if he wasn't sure that's who she really was.

"Of course, that Princess! Everyone in Equestria knows who Princess Celestia is!" Twilight began shouting. How could anyone not know who the Princess was.? "If you don't know you're either completely crazy or…"

"Or not from Equestria, right." The white unicorn answered her with a bright and unoffended smile. "Forgive me, my attitude must have seemed very rude to you, but I assure you that wasn't my intention. Your highness, please forgive me. You must understand that from where I'm from you are almost an unheard of entity and your species is nothing more than a colorful description that graces the pages of pony-tales. So it is understandable that, even with you standing before my very eyes, will doubt your existence at first." His tone apologetic and clearly elegant. It was the voice of a practiced speaker and his smile, friendly and alluring in its radiance, assured his honestly.

Celestia smiled in understanding, "Well I assure you that your words did not offend me, but your apology is well appreciated Mr…?"

"Requiem. Hope Requiem, traveling bard and collector of myths and legends." He answered with a respectful bow.

"And as you know I am Princess Celestia and this is my most faithful student Twilight Sparkle. Mr. Requiem…"

"Hope." He corrected.

"Hope, if I may ask you, what are you doing here in Equestria?" Celestia asked.

"Almost five months ago I heard a rumor that the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, Discord, had escaped his 1000 year prison so I have traveled here to hear the tale and…" Hope went silent at this point as his face suddenly drew a blank. "And I don't seem to remember the other reason. I think it was important, but I just can't recall."

"Hmm, the doctor's said you were knocked unconscious by a magical shockwave, probably caused by the release of Discord's seal. It's possible it had an effect on your memory." Twilight explained. "Anyway, Discord escaped the first time almost a year ago."

"I suppose news travels very slowly outside of Equestria." Hope guessed with a shrug. "If I may be so bold, I couldn't help but listen in on your conversation and if I heard correctly you said you'll be traveling beyond your borders soon."

"That is correct." Twilight answered.

"Well as thanks for helping me I'll be glad to share any information I have to update your maps."

"My that would be quite the help, thank you!" Twilight exclaimed. Any help to transverse the unknown world was greatly appreciated.

"In that case may I see your maps?" Hope requested as the Princess and Twilight showed the maps they currently had. "No, this won't do at all? This town here doesn't exist anymore after it was wiped out by a tsunami 50 years ago and this path is much too dangerous after a family of manticores claimed it as hunting territory a decade ago. Hmm, the City-Republic of Freepony? This place was razed almost 100 years ago by the Black-Wing Kingdom and is now part of their lands. My suggestion is you just avoid that place altogether."

"Razed?" Twilight asked unsure of what the world meant.

"Yeah, don't tell me you were actually planning on traveling with using these maps?" Hope asked, ignoring Twilight's question.

"Well yeah. It's not like we have a choice."

Hope looked up at her and raised his brow quizzically. "Are you stupid? With these maps you'd be lost within a week, dead within a month."

"Please don't be critical of Twilight, Hope. It's my fault. Sadly our knowledge of the lands beyond our border is outdated and these are the up to date maps we have. If anyone is to bear your spite it should be me."

"No, I wasn't trying to be mean. Just to use these maps would be suicide."

"I know, since you are so familiar with the lands outside of Equestria why don't you act as their guide?" Celestia asked.

"Me?" He questioned as he looked at Twilight. She seemed a little bit dishearten by his words. Torn between her loyalty to perform her duty and the cold reality of immediate failure. With a sighed before he gave a confident laugh and smiled, "Sure why not? I mean what guy wouldn't want to spend more time with his dream girl?"

End Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

Nothing special in the update. SRC I appreciate your support, but please consider getting an account. They're free and then you can harass via PMs rather than through the reviews. I don't like when the review pages to get covered in useless clutter or spam so I will delete all, but your original review, no offense though. Aside from that, I honestly don't have the time to write as often as you or other supporters of my stories would like, but I do try to at least get one update out a week though it's not always possible. Please understand the situation, but do continue to support the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I also do not own or have rights to the song Safety Dance by Men Without Hats. Everything is used without permission.

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><p>Sonata de'crescendo<p>

By: Juggalomalice

Chapter 2

"So she throws this fish at this pony's head when he's not looking. You can imagine how mad he was, well before he says anything she jumps out and starts spouting this ridicules lie on how it was the 'Flying Fish of Good Fortune' and that anyone hit by it would have good luck for the rest of the day. It sounds unbelievable, but the way she said it even I was starting to believe her. Well the sale-pony just stares at her for almost a minute, before he dashes off screaming how today would be the day he gets married. Kid you not, he bought the story hook, line and sinker." Hope said enthusiastically as he retold the story to the Pegasus guards who would be pulling their carriage. Despite their usual stoic attitudes they listened with the ever slightest of grins.

"What happened after that?" One of them finally asked.

"She robbed his fruit stand bare of anything that wasn't bolted down. Don't worry to much though. Despite that, I heard the sales-pony succeeded in proposing to the mare of his dreams and the next time I spoke to him he confessed that he didn't even care that he was robbed." With an "all's well that ends well" ending the two guards allowed themselves to share a laugh with their passenger before take off.

"What's so funny?" Twilight asked as she approached the three ponies. A bus-pony carrying her additional luggage followed closed behind.

"Nothing Miss. Sparkle." One of the Pegasi answered as his partner and him quickly shifted back to their no nonsense personas. "We're ready to leave at your word."

"Good, our mission is very important and we need to arrive at Ponyville as soon as possible. Hope, I assume you are fit to travel, correct?" She asked as the bus-pony loaded and secured her luggage in the chariot.

"Yeah, I'm feeling much better." He declared as he boarded the chariot, "Except I seem to have this bruise around my rib area. Like someone kicked me or something."

"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." Twilight assured with a nervous laugh as the chariot took to the air.

"I've never actually flown before. The feeling is a bit unnerving, but this view is quite breath taking. Don't quite get this view when riding a train." Hope compared out load.

"That's true. Equestria is a very beautiful land. It's a shame. If the situation wasn't so urgent I could suggest a number of historical and cultural sites that I'm sure you would take interest in."

Hope seemed a bit crestfallen at this. "I really did want to study the legends of this place. Outside of rumor, nothing much is known about Equestria."

"I read that Equestria actually has a steady immigration rate. I'm sure somepony keeps in touch with friends and family after they immigrate."

"Well I wouldn't know, but I do know that those that move in never come back out. It's hard to blame them. I've only been here a short time, but I can tell this place is like heaven on Earth. No pony in their right mind would want to leave it willingly." He continued with a somewhat distant look in his eyes as he admired the lush green fields that flew below them.

Twilight's ears drooped a bit from the way he said that as she asked, "Is it that bad out there?"

"In some places, yeah." There was no thought to the answer. It was automatic. Replied instinctively. Said in the way a pony would answer a well known fact.

"Oh, what about tourists?" Twilight asked hastily as if she didn't want to think about the implications Hope's comment entailed.

"Border checks are pretty harsh. They deny everyone entry from what I've heard." He answered without much thought again.

"Well it can't be everyone. You got through, right?"

Hope froze for a second as if someone had just threatened his life as he turned to face Twilight. "Of course they let me in. All my papers are in order and 100% legal. There's no way I could have gotten in if they weren't." He clarified between nervous laughs. "Hey, is that Ponyville?" He asked as he pointed a hoof into the distance.

"Huh?" Twilight questioned as she easily fell for the distraction and turned towards the ever approaching sight of the town. Even at their current distance, Spike's figure could be made out as it nervously paced back and forth in the central square of Ponyville. "Yes, it is. Seems Princess Celestia informed Spike of my early arrival." A mere minutes later the two ponies found themselves safely landing and disembarking to meet said dragon who urgently ran up to Twilight.

"Twilight, I got the Princess's letter and already gathered everyone else. They're waiting for you right now at the library. Is it true that Discord managed to escape somehow?" Spike asked in the midst of his panicked report.

"Unfortunately it's true Spike." Twilight answered disheartened.

"Then why aren't the clouds turning into cotton candy, why aren't animals growing crazy legs, why hasn't Ponyville gone to the proverbial doghouse?" Spike asked in panic.

"I don't know what Discord is up too, but I assure you it can't be good." The lavender pony answered as she began towards her home.

Spike grimaced in uncertainty as he took to Twilight's side glancing back only when he noticed they were being followed. "Twilight, there's this weird pony with a piano following us."

"I'm not that weird am I?" Hope asked himself as he glanced at his attire.

"Spike, don't be rude." Twilight scolded

Hope gave a light laugh. "It's ok Twilight. I guess I do kind of stand out, but that's usually a good thing in my profession. Name's Hope Requiem my purple friend and I'm here too help. Nothing much beyond that I guess."

Seeming content with Hope's answer Spike shifted his attention away from Hope back towards Twilight. The two continued to exchange words as Twilight filled Spike in on the situation at hand as they made their way back home. Hope followed, but saw little interest in their conversation as a whole.

As soon as Twilight entered the library she was berated by questions on all sides from her friends. It was clear everypony was concerned and wanting answers. Twilight tried her best to answer each question that was shot at her, but her friends just weren't giving her the time to address them.

"Everypony calm down!" She finally shouted drawing silence back into the room.

"And I said, Peanut Butter Pizza? I have got to try that." Pinkie rambled on even after everyone had gone silent. "Oh, sorry." The pink earth pony apologized at the realization of her mistake.

With everypony finally quite Twilight began explaining the situation to her friends. From the breaking of Discord's seal, to his escape under the guise of playing a game, Celestia's order to capture him and to their need to travel outside of Equestria to accomplish said goal. Hope found himself easily ignored as the other ponies focused their attention towards Twilight and the business at hand.

"That's a mighty big order to fill, even for us Sugarcube." Applejack confessed to Twilight.

"It'll be just like a camping trip. I'm so excited!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she looked up to Rainbow Dash.

"Totally. Can you imagine the cool adventures we'll have out there?" The cyan Pegasus nearly shouted.

"Sounds awfully dangerous. Do you think I could perhaps stay here, if that's alright with you?" Fluttershy meekly asked as a shudder of fear ran through her body.

"I for one agree with Fluttershy on this one. We have Diamond Dogs here in Equestria. Can you imagine what kind of brutes live in those barbaric lands?" Rarity asked.

Hope was now browsing the library as if the knowledge locked inside each book could somehow fill the gaps in his memory. Finding one that interest him, Legendary Legends of Long-ago, he pulled it out with his magic and started reading a few pages into it. It may not have been them method he preferred to learn by, but it was none the less educational. "May I check this book out?" He asked out loud drawing the room's attention to him. Apparently when speaking about chaotic spirits and the possible end of all order, ponies don't like to be interrupted.

Rainbow Dash flew straight at him as she hovered in his face. "Hey, in case you haven't noticed we're having an important conversation here, buddy." She snapped.

"That's ok. I never said you couldn't. Anyway, its not like you even know which direction Discord went in so there's no point in being a rush right now, friend." Hoped answered as he dismissed the importance of Dash's claim.

"I'm not your friend, pal." She angrily answered back.

Hope grinned as he looked up at the rainbow mane pony, almost like some part of him wanted her to give that answer. "Really, that's too bad. I would be honored to have a pony as pretty as you as a friend." He answered back as he gently ran a hoof down her cheek.

Dash was taken back by this reply for a second as she blushed before she smacked the white pony's hoof away from her. "Knock it off creep."

"C'est l'après' vie" He said with a shrug as he walked past the Pegasus as if nothing had happened. "Can I still check this out?"

"Hey I never said I was done talking you." Dash exclaimed she marched straight up to him in anger. "Now listen here…" She was quickly cut off by a hoof that was gently placed at her lips to silence her.

"You know, rainbows don't make any sounds, but we acknowledge them as one of the most beautiful things in the world. It's a shame. I'm sure everyone would notice you more if you were a bit more like a rainbow. Right?" Hope 'suggested' with a devilish grin.

Dash's eyes glazed over as she absently mindedly nodded. "Yeah." She agreed as she lazily hovered away. An ability that silenced Rainbow Dash so quickly did not exist to her friends and the black mane bard was already getting distrustful looks.

"She be fine in a minute or so." Hope assured with his charmed voice, "Aside from that, the only real thing we can do right now is gather our supplies and tie any loose ends until we get some kind of lead on Discord, right?"

"And who exactly are you to be suggesting this, Partner?" Applejack questioned.

"Oh my gosh. A new pony. I totally didn't see you there. I'm Pinkie Pie. What's your name? What's your favorite color? What's Your favorite sweet? Oh oh oh, what's your favorite colored sweet." Somehow during her questions she ended up standing on Hope's head.

"I'm sorry everypony. I got so caught up in explaining everything to you guys that I forgot to introduce you. This is Hope Requiem. He's a traveler who kind of got pulled into this whole affair. He'll also be our guide once we're outside Equestria. He's very knowledgeable of outside affairs."

"Pleasure." Hope said with a nod.

"Hope, this is Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie is the one who's still on your head, and you already met Rainbow Dash." Twilight said as she introduced her friends. "But Hope makes a good point. Our first priority is to get our supplies ready. We'll meet back here tomorrow morning to make our first move." Twilight ordered as her friends nodded in agreement and proceeded out. Fluttershy guiding Dash as she followed with a blank expression, but a pretty smile out of the house.

"Are you sure she'll be ok?" Twilight asked as the last of her friends left.

"She'll be fine in five, four, three, two,…" Hope assured as he counted down.

"What happened? What did that weirdo do to me! I'm so going to clobber him!" They heard Dash shout from outside.

"Easy there, Sugarcube. We got more important things to worry about." They heard Applejack say followed by the sounds of a light struggle.

"Spike I need you to run to the store and pick up some supplies for me. I prepared a small list for you before I left Canterlot." Twilight said as she handed the purple dragon a the supply scroll.

"I'm on it Twilight." The dragon happily acknowledge as he ran out.

"As for you," Twilight began as she walked up to up and took the book from him. "You're kind of a forward pony aren't you Hope? Can't really blame you though. Rainbow Dash is rather impressive and has many admirers." Twilight explained as she stamped the book for check out and handed it back.

Hope gratefully took the book and placed it in his saddlebags. "I won't lie. She is cute, but you're much cuter in my opinion."

"Oh please, I'm not cute. I'm just a librarian." Twilight said with a blush.

Hope suddenly closed the distance between Twilight and him as he leaned in towards her. "Hey Twilight, I know we just got here and that I'm suppose to help you, but I've been wanting to ask you this for sometime now and I just can't control myself." Hope said in a low tone.

Twilight's face flushed red. This had never happened to her before, but she read about it in some of her novels. How the mysterious stallion would develop an unhealthy attachment for the meek and plain protagonist and then ravage her at the earliest opportunity. Even though she would cry "stop" over and over again he wouldn't stop and even though she says "stop" she would really be secretly wishing for more.

"No Hope, I'm not ready for that sort of thing and besides that we just met and hardly know each other and even if you do find me cute my heart just isn't ready for such an adult relationship!" She cried in one continuous sentence as she tried to escape only to end up falling backwards onto her desk. She shut her eye's tightly in fear and in expectation. Then…. Nothing. She opened her eyes as she looked up at Hope. A confused expression on his face.

"I was just going to ask if it's alright if I explore the town a bit. I really don't like being indoors for long periods of time and this may be the last chance I get to ever see this place again." Hope explained.

"Oh, I knew that." Twilight lied. "Sure go out and have some fun and such. We can go over our travel plans later." She had barely finished giving permission when Hope jumped up and dashed out of the tree house like it was on fire. "I have got to stop reading those romance novels." She said to herself.

Hope smiled as he was greeted by warm sunlight, a cool breeze, and fresh clean air. "Geez, I really am crazy if I'm willing to leave this place as soon as I got here." Hope lamented as he proceed into town. Even though he was a new face everyone was so polite in their greetings. Hope couldn't remember the last time he was welcomed so easily into a town.

As he entered the main market area he noticed a rather big red stallion, almost a head taller than him, standing next to a cart of juicy looking apples for sale. Hope's stomach growled as he found himself unable to recall the last time he ate. The sign on the cart read "2 bits each" and as Hope dug out his pathetically light coin bag he dumped out the contents onto the floor. Several pennies of different nationalities fell out, but not a single Equestrian bit.

Hope grimaced at the bleak sight as he scooped up the few coins back into his bag. "I guess a pony's got to do what a pony's got to do." He proclaimed to himself as he walked close to the center of the town square and pulled out a tin bowl from his pack and placed it in front of him. Three nearby fillies had ceased their games to watch him in curiosity.

Hope pulled up his keytar as he made several slight adjustments to it using magic before the whole instrument glowed as a festive and well known song began to flow out of it. The song had barely began before the orange coated filly Pegasus proclaimed loudly, "I love this song." Before she burst into a shuffle of bad dancing that you would expect from a child. Shortly afterwards her two friends, a yellow earth pony and a white unicorn, joined her in dance seemingly unconcerned about how funny they may appear to others. Since Hope wasn't trying to play anything impressive he wasn't sure if ponies were gathering to listen to him or watch the three fillies humorous but carefree dance.

"You three dance like chickens! Especially you Scootaloo." A pink filly with a tiara on her head exclaimed from the ever growing crowd. Hope's music stopped abruptly at this comment as the three fillies also took notice of the crowd that had grown around them.

"_Oh no." _The musical pony thought as he watched the scene before him. He knew all to well that it only took one well placed comment to turn a crowd against you and just as he predicted the crowd started laughing. Much like a snowball rolling down a hill, it started with one pony, then two, and before you knew it the whole square was laughing at the three young fillies. The pink instigator just looking on with a smug expression.

"Come on girls. Let's get out of here." The yellow filly said with her head held down.

Hope knew he only had a few seconds to fix this. A few seconds to turn this situation around. Thankfully he was surrounded by his element, ponies with easily changed opinions. He quickly adjusted his keytar once more as he dialed up the volume and began the opening to his new song. He was trying now and just as expected his new song brought all attention to him, including that of the three hurt fillies, buying him the precious seconds he needed. As they did, Hope quickly dashed forward, his song still being played by his magic, and cut off the retreat of the young girls.

"We can dance if we want to.  
>We can leave your friends behind.<br>Cause' your friend don't dance,  
>and if they don't dance, well they're<br>no friends of mine."

He began to dance to his own song and combined with his encouraging lyrics and smile the three fillies slowly began to dance again.

"Say, we can go where we want to.  
>A place where they will never find.<br>And we can act like we come from out of this world.  
>Leave the real one far behind."<p>

It wasn't long before other ponies found themselves with the urge to dance as well. Within seconds, the music turned a crowd of nay-sayers into a crowd of badly dancing ponies. Each one happily enjoying the bliss and not even paying attention to their ridiculous appearance.

It wasn't long before the song ended and Hope found himself falling to the ground laughing with his first three listeners as they all four simply enjoyed the afterglow of the happy dance.

"That was awesome Mister." The white filly praised.

"Yeah, will you play another one?" The yellow filly asked.

Soon the request was echoed by the former dancing crowd as shouts of encore rippled down the town. Hope stood up and dusted himself. "I'll be glad to play again, but I'm afraid I haven't eaten anything in sometime now. If I could ask this generous crowd of ponies for just a few bits for a meal I'll be glad to continue playing." Hope offered as he held out his bowl.

Within seconds it was overflowing with bits as the town easily bought the bard's service for the upcoming hour. The music continued and the merry dances along with it.

"Oh my gosh! Who's throwing a party without me?" Pinkie Pie shouted in surprised glee as she jumped out of the bakery and joined the festivities.

The music didn't stop till a little over an hour when every pony found themselves almost passed out on the ground. Exhausted, but happy. Satisfied with the performance the ponies slowly began to disperse leaving Hope to gather his earnings together by himself. At least that's what he thought before he saw three little fillies picking up stray coins that had fallen out and placing them back in his bowl.

"You know, you don't have to help me." Hope assured them.

"Nope, the Cutie Mark Crusaders never leave a debt unpaid." The yellow filly who seemed to be their leader proclaimed loudly.

"Well I thank you for your help, but it was my honor to help three pretty young ladies like yourself." Hope said as he smiled at them in thanks causing the three young girls to blush. "My name is Hope."

"I'm Apple Bloom" The yellow filly said.

"I'm Scootaloo." The orange one said proudly.

"And I'm Sweetie Bell." The white one said in a bit more of a lady like manner.

"And together we form The Cutie Mark Crusaders. We go on adventures in our never ending journey to find our Cutie Marks." They all said in unison as if they actually took time to practice this intro in their free time.

"You know if your quest is never ending it implies you'll never find your Cutie Marks." Hope commented on the wording of their goal.

"What?" They all suddenly said in shock.

"Don't worry though. I'm sure you'll find them one day." He encouraged as a sudden growl emanated from his stomach. "How embarrassing. Now if you forgive me ladies, I have a date with something delicious and edible." Hope said as he gathered his things.

"Bye Hope!" They all shouted as they ran off.

"Take care girls." He shouted back as he made his way back to the apple stand. "One apple please." He ordered as he placed 2 bits on the cart. The large red pony proceeded to hand him a bag filled with apples. Even with his latest earnings Hope was unsure he could afford this many apples. "I'm sorry, I can't afford this many. I just want one."

"On the house." The red stallion said though his expression never changed.

"Really?"

"E'yup." Was all Hope got as an answer.

"Well thank you very much." Hope said as he headed back towards the library. That was enough excitement for the day and it wouldn't be long before the last hours of daylight would be spent. As nice as this town seemed in the day he never trusted anyplace at night. Still he couldn't help but like this little town called Ponyville. "One day I wouldn't mind coming back here."

End Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Sonata de'crescendo

By: Juggalomalice

Chapter 3

The following morning, anxiety served as Twilight's alarm clock as she awoke long before Celestia's sun. She had instructed her friends to meet her as soon as possible and she was far to restless too just lay around. She decided that the best thing for her to do was too triple check today's to do list. She quietly tipped passed the sleeping forms of Spike and Hope. It was far to early for the baby dragon to be up and at the moment Twilight did not require Hope's assistance in any matter so there was no point in waking him up.

She quickly finished her morning rites before she pulled a scroll and quill from her desk and began to go over the check-list. She had already prepared her bags the night before and with Hope's help planned out several possible routes depending on the direction they would take. Princess Celestia had already sent a letter informing Twilight that she had several scouting units in search of information on Discord's whereabouts. It would be only a matter of time before they would have information on his location.

Still as she reached the end of her list she was dismayed at how many blanks boxes were left. These were things that were beyond her control. Scouting reports that had yet to come in, inventory counts of items and numerous other things which only time could answer. Twilight looked at the nearby clock as it read 5AM. There was nothing she could do at this hour and having nothing to do when there was so much to do was driving her crazy.

"Maybe I should ask Hope to reconfirm some routes for me or even ask him to about culture and customs outside Equestria so I can familiarize myself with them." She said to herself as she climbed back up the stairs and approached the guest bed. "Hope, wake up." She whispered as she gently shook the pony from his slumber. He grumbled something under his breath and he shifted away from her gentle nudges. Twilight frowned at this and she leaned in further on the bed and nudged her guest once more. "Hope, wake up."

The sleeping pony grumbled once more as he grabbed the purple unicorn by her hoof and pulled her into the bed with him. Refusing to give her time to think Hope positioned her so that she was facing away from him with her back nuzzled against his chest as he hugged her from behind. "Twilight, I haven't slept in a real bed in over three months and unless the tree house is on fire there's no way I'm getting out of it yet." The show pony told her in a hushed tone.

"Yeah, but there's so much to do. It's irresponsible to sleep to long." Twilight protested.

Hope yawned, "That maybe true, but there's nothing wrong with sleeping just long enough. Now go back to bed Twilight. Once we're out on the road you're going to regret not having this fluffy bed under you every night."

"Do you travel that often?"

"Everyday since I turned 16."

"By the way you talk sometimes, you make it sound like you hate traveling. If that's the case why do you do it so much?"

"The reasons escape me right now. Maybe because I'm half asleep or maybe because of that magical back-lash I don't know. Regardless, I know that your problems will still be there when you wake up, so there's no reason why you shouldn't sleep."

Again his words troubled her. Despite his friendly demeanor and constant words of encouragement he tended to say some things which just sounded depressing. "You make it sound like you have a lot of problems yourself." She half joked to the sleepy bard.

"I don't know, but right now I'm glad half my memory is scrambled, I'm glad I'm not hungry, I'm glad I don't have to sleep on a cold floor even if it's just for one night, and I'm glad you're warm." He answered as he unconsciously pulled Twilight closer to him as he finally fell back asleep.

Twilight blushed as she suddenly realized her situation. Anyone who saw this would instantly get the wrong idea. She struggled a bit in the bed only to realize that while asleep Hope seemed to have a death grip on things. His grip wasn't painful, but it was clear he wasn't going to let her go anytime soon. Remembering the fact that the only real thing she could do right now was wait she slowly resided herself to her current fate.

"I guess I could go back to sleep for just a little while longer." Indeed, she wasn't sure if it was the utter silence of the early morning or the steady relaxed breathing behind her, but she found herself yawning as her eyes once again became heavy and then darkness.

* * *

><p>"Twilight, you in there!" the distant voice called out to her sleep.<p>

"Hey Egghead, wake up already!" Another voice cried out a bit more harshly.

Twilight was slowly roused from her sleep by these and similar calls from her friends. She looked at the nearby clock as it read 10AM. He eyes immediately shot open as she realized how long she had slept. She tried to sit up only to feel herself still held tightly in Hope's embrace.

"I swear he's like a child." She mumbled as she teleported out of his grip. He groaned lightly in his sleep as he readjusted himself into another more comfortable position. Twilight hastily brushed her hair as she raced down the stairs to open the door for her friends.

"Geez, about time Twilight. What took you?" Rainbow Dash complained as she walked in followed by everypony else.

"Sorry girls. I didn't hear you the first time." Twilight apologized to her friends as her gaze suddenly fell on the three fillies that came in with them. "And just what are you three girls doing here? We're going to be very busy today so we can't play."

Applebloom stepped forward to speak on behalf of her friends, "We know Twilight and we won't cause any trouble, we promise, it's just we wanted to see Hope once more before he left."

"That's kind of my fault Twi." Applejack admitted. "See the girls stopped by the farm to play and they told me how they met Hope in the square that afternoon. I mentioned that Hope was staying at your place and when she asked why I ended up telling her about the whole trip and how we'd be leaving today."

"I see. Well in that case why don't you three girls go and wake him up? Maybe you'll have more luck than me." Twilight told them. The three fillies smiled with excitement as they rushed upstairs.

"He's still asleep?" Rainbow asked as the fillies raced each other up the stairs.

"Like a log."

"What a lazy bum." Rainbow mocked as she set her saddlebags down.

"Anyway, did everypony gather their supplies? We still have time to buy anything we need, but our funds are limited so I rather not have to buy anything we don't need." Twilight explained as each of the ponies presented their saddle bags for inspection.

"Kobolds!" Hope suddenly yelled from upstairs startling everyone in the lower level. "Kobolds everywhere!" He yelled once more as the mane six watched him suddenly jump from the second floor down. He hit the ground and immediately broke into a tumble ,clearly meant to be efficient and not graceful, before he spun around and faced everypony around him. His keytar gripped tightly in his hooves as one would grip an ax.

"Hope, please calm down." Twilight cried out to the half-asleep pony.

It took the white stallion several seconds to finally respond to the purple unicorns plea. His eyes finally undulated as he observed the room for what it really was. A safe place full of ponies who intended him no harm. Hope released a heavy sigh of relief before falling back on his hind legs and leaning against the wall.

"Sorry about that ladies. I could have swore I felt something small moving under the bed sheets and the first thing that game to my mind were Kobolds." Hope explained as the CMC rushed down the stairs.

"Hope, we're sorry for scaring you?" Applebloom apologized.

"We weren't trying too, honest." Sweetie Bell emphasized.

"Yeah, we just wanted to play a joke on you to wake you up. We didn't mean scare you." Scootaloo explained.

"We're sorry." The three fillies said in unison.

Hope was still a bit confused about the situation as he listened to the fillies apologies. After several moments he flashed the young girls his usual bright smile. "Now girls, I should be apologizing to you. Now that I look at you three it would be kind of hard for anypony to confuse you with kobolds."

"Does anypony want to fill in the rest of us on what a kobold is?" Applejack asked slightly annoyed at being unable to understand what Hope was talking about.

"They're small, cowardly, bi-pedal reptiles believed to be a distant, though lesser, relatives of dragons. They're non-indigenous to Equstria, but are classified as pests and are barely ranked above the common rat in threat." Twilight explained.

"There is so much wrong with that last part of your definition that I believe that acknowledging it with a rebuttal would only serve as a confirmation of your understatement of real life threats." Hope enlightened her while maintaining his ever bright and cheerful smile.

"Then tell us what they're really like." Scootaloo asked

"Ok fine, but I'm not responsible if you end up being so scared you run home crying."

"As if. The Cutie Mark Crusaders fear nothing." Applebloom proudly proclaimed.

"Is that so? Well imagine a lizard that stands on two legs with teeth and claws as sharp as razors. Now imagine this thing being as tall as you little girls, give it a nasty mean streak and be painfully aware of the fact that you are it's favorite food." Hope explained as his intonation became more grave.

"Yeah, but they're so small. I mean even if it's just one of us I'm pretty sure a good hind kick would take it down." Scootaloo said.

"Oh that may be true, but imagine there are 20, 30, or even 50 of these little monsters and all of them are after you. Twilight was right about one thing. They're cowardly, so they'll never face you by themselves and never head-on." Hope said as he sunk down and began to circle the three fillies as if he was stalking them. His words becoming darker and more sinister as he spoke sending shivers down the backs of even the mane six. "They would follow you, sometimes for days at a time. Since they're small it's easy for them to hide so you can never really see them, but you can hear them. You always hear them as they get closer and closer, but you never see them. They'll stay at a distance until the moment you least expect and then ,and only then…"

"THEY ATTACK!" Hope shouted as he pounced towards the CMC. A loud shriek followed as the CMC quickly dispersed in fear. Screaming and insanity soon followed as Hope gave chase. "You have to run faster than that or the Kobolds will eat you." He joked as he turned the whole story into a game. The mixed sound of laughter and screams of mock horror from the young girls allowed the built up tension to relieve itself.

"Ok that's enough everypony. Hope, I appreciate your desire to entertain the girls but we have a very important mission to do and you are an essential part of it." Twilight interrupted.

All four ponies moaned at hearing this. "No fun at all." Hope complained with a roll of his eyes.

Twilight ignored the complaints as she opened her door. "We still have a lot of work to do today, so why don't you kids play outside?" She suggested.

"Ok." The fillies reluctantly agreed as they solemnly marched outside. Hope followed behind them with a similar expression and demeanor, believing that if he acted like them he could sneak out with them.

"All except you Hope." Twilight sternly said as she used her magic to hold Hope back.

"Oh so close." The black mane unicorn lamented. "Run while you still can girls. Forget about me, for my fate is too dark to consider." He cried with theatrical melodrama as Twilight rolled her eyes closing the door.

"Did you get that all out of your system?" Twilight asked.

"Just about." Hope replied with a grin.

"Moving on." Twilight pulled out her check list once more as she once more began her inspection of everyone's supplies while Hope went back to the second floor to gather his bags.

"Pinkie Pie, do you really think you need this many balloons." Twilight asked.

"Of course. You never know when you'll need to throw a party and ,Celestia forbid, you don't have enough balloons." Pinkie justified.

Twilight shook her head as she continued with her checklist. "Pretty good over all. I don't know how long we'll be gone, but we should bring enough supplies for at least two weeks."

"Just how many ponies are going on this quest again?" Hope asked as he came down the stairs with a half-asleep Spike right behind him.

"All six of us, Spike and yourself." Twilight answered.

"What? Who said I was going?" Spike asked as he instantly woke up at that.

"Princess Celestia wants us to keep in contact so you have to come along. No ands, ifs, or buts about it." Twilight answered. Spike instantly had objections, though Twilight would hear none of them out.

"Hmm that's eight in total. Such a large group is going to draw attention."

"Speaking of supplies Twilight, the Mayor wanted you to drop by Town Hall later today around noon." Rarity informed.

"Well we should drop by town anyway to get a few extra supplies, just to be safe. Hope, you're the expert. Is there anything we should make sure we have." Twilight asked.

"Well lets see. Everyone should have at least a weeks worth of rations if not more, a sleeping bag, a tent, a set of cold weather clothes, someone should bring some medicines just in case, matches unless you like the old flint & steel method, canteen, maybe some torches. You know common sense stuff for a long trip. Don't forget any weapons or armor you're skilled in using, but that should be obvious as well." Hope listed.

"I beg your pardon?" Applejack questioned.

"Why would we ever need to take such barbaric things like weapons with us?" Rarity asked in disgust.

Hope stared at the six mares in front of him before bursting out in laughter. "That's a good one. Oh you almost had me there for a moment." He wiped a tear from his eye as he once more looked at the six perplexed expressions before him. "By the Bringer of Darkness, you all are serious aren't you? Are you telling me that you have no training in weapons what so ever? What are they outlawed or something?"

"Well yes, but it's not because they're outlawed. There's just no reason for a normal pony to have them is all." Twilight explained.

"If only the border guards shared that sentiment." He grumbled. "So you mean to say not one of you have even held a weapon in your lives? Oh this is going to be so difficult. I'm starting to have second thoughts on this idea. Are you girls sure you don't have a death wish or something?" He asked with a nervous smile.

"Hey cut it out. We have no desire to die and what's wrong if we've never used a weapon? We can all take care of ourselves just fine and just look at yourself. You don't have any weapons either and I'm pretty sure I'm tougher than you." Rainbow Dash boosted.

Hope rolled his eyes in aggravation as he opened one of his saddle bags and poured out the contents. A small arsenal of daggers, darts, a crossbow and ammunition fell out. "I'm not the best, but I can at least defend myself. And why do you need them? Because just about everypony out there has one and I assure you it makes life easier if you're at least on even ground. I'm not a warrior. I can't defend you all if something bad happens."

"Well who asked you to protect us?" Rainbow Dash snapped.

"Easy there Sugarcube." Applejack said as she pulled Rainbow back. "I think what Dash is trying to say is that we appreciate your desire to keep us safe Hope, but we're not dainty little girls on a play date. We've been on dangerous jobs before and we know how to keep ourselves safe and each other safe. You may not think we're up to snuff, but I assure you we are. You just point the way and leave the rest to us, ok?" Applejack clarified.

"If you say so." Hope agreed though doubt was still evident in his voice. Several uneasy seconds of silence passed before Twilight finally spoke up.

"Ok, well now that that problem is solved we should head into town. The fresh air will do us good." Twilight suggested as she lead the group out. Indeed the fresh air seemed to do everyone good. It was another lovely day as the Pegasus did an excellent job in making sure it just sunny enough. A fresh breeze filled everypony with the scent of summer. As they exited the library they were immediately greeted by a messenger pony who had come to inform them that there was an assembly going on at Town Hall for them.

* * *

><p>As they arrived at Town Hall they were immediately greeted by what seemed like the whole town. The crowds melted away allowing the six mares easy access to the stage that had been set up where the Mayor of Ponyville awaited them. Unsure of what was going on the six ponies walked up on stage where they were once more greeted with a cheer of approval from all of Ponyville.<p>

"An audience this big and they didn't even have to flyer. Must be nice to be a hero." Hope said to himself as he watched the assembly from the back of the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlecolts," The Mayor began, "We have gathered here today to wish the best of luck to six of our finest citizens as they ready themselves for a most dangerous mission. A mission not only to protect the crown, but ever pony in Equestria and for that we of Ponyville give you are greatest of thanks." A loud cheer echoed from the crowd once more. "Sadly Ponyville is not a rich community and there is little we can give you to support your quest, but none the less we have managed two gifts which we want to present to you today."

"Mayor Mare, that's not needed. We appreciate your offer, but we are content with just your good wishes." Twilight assured the Mayor and the crowd.

"Nonsense, with everything you and your friends have done for this town, nay, this country, this is the least we could do for you." The Mayor said as she silenced any protest the Mane Six could give. "We here of Ponyville present you this brand new traveling carriage, good for carrying supplies and providing shelter at night, as well as this discount card that will provide you with a 50% discount at any store here in Ponyville."

"Thank you Mayor. This will actually be a huge help." Twilight said thankfully. "Now if only we knew which direction Discord went."

At that moment Pinkie Pie's stomach gave a loud rumble. "That's weird. I ate two dozen cupcakes for breakfast. I shouldn't be hungry." Her stomach rumbled again. "Oh now I feel funny. Like hoho funny not hehe funny." She informed before she belched a spew of purple flames that form a postcard that fell to her feet. "Hey, I got mail!" She exclaimed as she picked up the postcard. It had a picture of a boring looking town that looked similar to Ponyville and read Coltown. "And it's from Discord."

"What!" Everypony else screamed as Twilight took the postcard from Pinkie and read it. _My Little Ponies,_

_Discord here. Did you miss me. I told you I would send you a card. I'm here in Coltown and it is so boring here. I guess it's because it is a border town so Equestria's boringness rubbed off on it. Maybe I can spice it up. _

_Discord_

"Well we know where he is now. Applejack, you take Pinkie Pie and get that cart back to the library and start loading it." Twilight ordered.

"On it." The orange earth pony acknowledged as she rallied her friend to their assigned task.

"Rainbow Dash, check with the Pegasus squads around town. I want a weather report from here to Coltown and make sure to send a messenger to border gates to inform them of our arrival so they have everything ready."

"Got it." Rainbow Dash confirmed a firm salute before she flew off.

"Fluttershy, head to Zecora's and ask her for any medicines she could spare for our trip."

"Ok, I'll try." the yellow Pegasus whispered.

"The rest of us, lets get shopping. We only have a short amount of time before we leave so lets get everything we need. Spike, you stay close to me. Hope, where is that pony?" Twilight asked as she began scanning the crowd before spotting him in the back. She hopped off the stage, followed closely by her remaining friends. "Follow me Hope. We could use your help with the supplies."

"Let's stock up on oil while we're at it. Very useful tool. Indispensable for first time journeys as well as some lamps, rope and maybe some sealing wax. They're not fundamental items but if we can spare some bits for them they'll come in handy." Hope suggested.

In but a few short hours each pony had already returned to the library with their tasked completed. Clear skies to Coltown, medicines from Zecora's, specialists supplies from town and an efficiently organized traveling wagon. Well almost efficient. Some things were in strange places thanks to Pinkie Pie, but everything was in order. With no time to spare in their schedule and Twilight insisting they head out while their momentum was strong the eight adventures set off on their journey.

End Chapter 3

* * *

><p>I hate it. I really don't like early intro chapters. I think anyone can tell I started rushing things mid way just to get this over with. I'm so behind on things as it is.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Sonata de'crescendo

By: Juggalomalice

Chapter 4

"So where exactly are we heading?" Rainbow Dash asked as she pulled the carriage alongside with Applejack.

"North, past Cloudsdale towards the Griffon Empire." Twilight informed her friend as she rolled up the map with her magic and placed it back in her saddlebags.

"But we're not entering Griffon territory, right?" Fluttershy timidly asked as she recalled how unpleasant her first experience with a griffon was.

"No, you see Coltown was originally founded by Equestria as a border colony, similar to Appleloosa, but due to it's close proximity to the Griffon Empire steps to fully annex Coltown into Equestria have been slow. Meaning that we have to help Coltown not only because it is the right thing to do, but failure to do so could result in devastating diplomatic and military ramifications with the Griffons." Twilight enlightened.

"Are you trying to say that if we miss up it could mean war?" Applejack asked.

Twilight let out a nervous laugh not wanting to put extra pressure on her friends. "Well yes and no. You see the Griffon empire covers a good portion of Equestria's northern borders. As such retaining control of Coltown gives Equestria a 'bridge' to the northern territories allowing us to act, explore, and trade without the use of Griffon channels. Should something happen to threaten the stability of Coltown, say a Spirit of Disharmony, it's possible that the Griffons will swoop in and occupy it under the guise of peacekeeping forever denying Equestria a direct link to the north and possibly triggering a war."

"But no pressure, right?" Rainbow Dash condescendingly asked.

"Don't you worry you're pretty little head there Twilight. We've stopped Discord before and we'll do it again. Any trouble he causes always stops when he's stopped anyway." Applejack assured her friend.

"It's convenient that this Discord decided to travel north where most of my own travels have taken place. If he had decided to go west I would be all but useless to your quest." Hope's sing-song voice chimed from inside the carriage.

"If you ask me you're already useless, 'Mr. All I've done all day is lay around'." Rainbow spat back.

"But Dashie, you sleep more than anyone else in Ponyville and every time I see you aren't you like slacking off." Pinkie asked the cyan Pegasus.

Rainbow Dash was taken back by the pink earth pony's blunt honesty. "That's not true. I just have a lot of free time because I'm so awesome at my job. All I'm saying is that the least he could do is pull the carriage or something."

"But Rainbow, didn't you say you were tougher than me? It only makes sense that you pull the carriage instead of me if that's the case." Hope answered.

"Well he's got you there missy." Applejack added with a smile.

"Still, my apology if you feel that way Miss. Dash. Allow me to play you a song as a token of my appreciation." The musical unicorn offered as a motivating beat began to fill the air.

"Well it's nice too travel while listening to music." Fluttershy timidly admitted.

"See, someone appreciates my contribution." Hope asserted with a smile. His music picking up just slightly as if to show his thanks.

The rainbow Pegasus gave a disapproving sigh, "Don't encourage him Fluttershy. If he gets anymore hot air in him he might float off."

"I'm sorry." Fluttershy timidly replied.

Twilight shook her head and she chuckled lightly to herself. She had learned long ago that petty arguments like this were a common first step towards friendship, meaning that their journey was on a good start so far. Still, parts of her couldn't help but worry about what may be in store for them. Coltown was one thing, but what if Discord was no longer there by the time they arrived? How far would they have to chase him before he was captured? Her thoughts were not allowed to travel any further as she was awaken from them by the sound of Rarity's voice.

"Twilight dear, my hooves are starting to kill me with all this walking. Don't you think it's time we break for camp?"

"Rarity, you've barely walked two steps since we done and left Ponyville. You've mostly been lazing about in the carriage with Hope." Applejack scolded.

"Well I don't expect somepony with such rough and calloused hooves, such as yourself, to understand the pain and sweat that a lady, such as myself, goes through to keep their hooves soft like velvet."

The orange earth pony snorted back, "I don't understand what's so nice about that. Soft hooves ain't no good for bucking."

"Knock it off you two." Twilight interrupted, "Rarity is right about us setting up camp though. It's going to be night out soon and it'll be difficult to set up camp once it's dark."

Everypony agreed as they steered the carriage a short way off the main road and began setting up camp for the night. Bedrolls were laid out and a fire was started for the night as Applejack immediately set out to cooking a hearty meal for the night.

"If we keep at this pace we'll be able to hit the border point by around noon tomorrow and Coltown by the morning after that. I'd say we're making good time." Twilight announced to her friends with a smile.

"Twilight, how long do you think this trip will last? I have a spa appointment next week and I'd hate to have to cancel it." Rarity asked from across the fire.

"I honestly don't know. The sooner we find Discord though the sooner we can go home. Hopefully it won't take to long."

"I know I'm just the outsider here who doesn't really know anything about Equestria, but I'm curious on what's so bad about this Discord?" Hope asked, a shining spark of curiosity visible in his eyes.

"He's a lying varmint!" Applejack nearly shouted.

"He's scary." Fluttershy added as she pulled the covers of her bed roll closer.

"He's simply atrocious." Rarity chimed.

"He's a big meanie face." Pinkie Pie said before she dove into her sweets bag.

"He threatened to destroy Cloudsdale if I didn't abandon my friends." Rainbow Dash spat with disdain.

"What everypony has said is true, but those aren't the only reasons why we have to stop Discord. He is the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony and he seeks pleasure by turning family and friends against each other. He turns virtues into vices and friends into enemies. The suffering of ponykind is his greatest pleasure and his ability to manipulate reality and his lack of morals to use said power responsibly makes him immensely dangerous. He is the very antithesis of Equestria's goal of peace and harmony among all ponies as he spreads deceit, greed and hate among the hearts of all. Based on this and everything else we know about Discord it is easy to see him as an evil that we cannot allow to wander the lands freely." Twilight explained.

Hope seemed to turn away at this explanation, the curiosity that once inhabited his eyes now gone, as he suddenly found his instrument more interesting than the stories about Discord. His hoof gently floating over the keys as a somewhat melancholy tone began to play. "Hmm, evil you say. I don't know how evil Discord can be, but I've seen evil ponies before and Discord had nothing to do with them. As for deceit, greed and hate, I assure you, ponies are quite capable of displaying those traits without the presence of Discord as well."

It was an unexpected answer. Perhaps it was the solemn music that accompanied his answer or maybe it was because his statement was just so alien from what they had all been raised to believe.

"Come now, must we talk about such un-fabulous topics like Discord and evil ponies on our first night together? Hope, you said you've traveled far and wide. Have you ever met any royalty?" Rarity interrupted, cleverly diffusing the tension.

"Well the kingdoms and city-states I've been too don't match up to the size of your Equestria, but that doesn't make them any less royal. I've met several royal families and once a princess from the a far off eastern kingdom took an interest in me after she heard me playing in the town courtyard. A lovely filly with a jet black mane and eyes like ruby itself. I could probably go on all night about her, but oh that was so long ago."

"Oh, a forbidden romance perhaps? How scandalous." The white unicorn squealed, eager to hear the juicy details about other ponies romantic lives.

"I wouldn't go as far to call it a romance, though whatever it was her father didn't approve. Only reason why I'm still alive was because she warned me the night before. It took me three days to find a way to sneak out of that city. Three long and crazy days." Hope answered with a distant laugh.

"The Princess falling in love with a common musician and against her father's will. It sounds like a romantic tragedy of the ancient days. Did you consider eloping with her?" She asked, her excitement on par with a school filly listening to the latest juicy gossip.

Hope couldn't help but give a hearty laugh to this, "You romanticize the situation too much. As for eloping, if I ever meet the right girl I hope that we don't have to take such a measure."

"So you're saying you're single, right?"

"Be careful there Hope. Ever since that wedding of Twilight's brother, Rarity has had a bit of a wedding bug." Applejack warned.

"I do not have a wedding bug. It's just not that often that we girls get to spend time with a young stallion like Hope and its only natural that a lady wonder how she appears to the opposite sex. You all are thinking the same thing too, right?" Rarity accused as she looked around her circle of friends. Her only real reply was silence and some nervous coughs.

"I wasn't, until you mentioned it. Oh, I'm so embarrassed." Fluttershy squeaked as she hid deeper into her covers.

"Well this is getting a bit weird. Usually I like being the center of attention, but… will you look at that moon. It's getting late so we should all get some sleep." Hope said as he himself retreated to his tent.

"Oh, now he's acting coy. How cute." Rarity teased as the bard retreated.

"I don't understand how acting like a fish is considered cute." A mildly jealous Spike muttered under his breath.

* * *

><p><em>Later that night<em>

Twilight wasn't exactly sure why she woke up. She didn't know what time it was, but if she had to guess then it was well past midnight. As she poked her head out of her tent she looked around their camp. The light from their fire still burned, though it was beginning to dim and in a few hours would snuff itself out. She noticed that Hope's tent was empty and the faint, but distant, sound of music could just barely be heard at the distance. She tossed a few more branches into the fire to keep it burning before she headed off towards the music.

Even if she was incapable of hearing the music she found it easy to determine her destination. For on the plane of darkness that was night the pale white light of Hope's magic was easily noticeable in the distance giving a near literal meaning to the metaphor, "beacon of light in the darkness". He seemed to be resting under a nearby tree, his figure little more than a dark hooded shadow basking in the light of his instrument.

Twilight had listened to many operas and talented musicians, but not one held the strange allure that Hope's music did. It was like the sound was alive and it demanded that she cry for it. It pulled at her will and emotions, yet she could not stop herself from listening. She wasn't sure how long she stood there fascinated by the sound, but she dare not make a sound for fear that it would end her captivity. As she stood there, sobbing silently, she didn't even notice that the music had ended. It wasn't until she felt somepony gently lift her head up as they tenderly wiped the tears from her eyes away with a white handkerchief.

"Sorry about that. That song tends to make ponies cry for some reason." Hope told her. His smile, perhaps the warmest she had ever seen in a long time.

"No, I'm not crying because of your song, though it was beautiful. It's just that something got in my eye is all." The lavender unicorn lied, trying to save face.

Hope's smile never left his face as he took her hoof and placed the handkerchief in it. "Then please use this the next time something gets in your eyes and you need to dry your tears."

"Thank you." Twilight said as she looked away in an attempt to hide the blush that was rising to her cheeks, "May I ask a small favor of you Hope?"

"Sure."

She hesitated for several seconds before she finally asked, "May you keep playing? I'd like to listen to your music for just a bit longer."

His answer came in the form of his keytar glowing once more as music began to flow out of it. No longer was the music sad, demanding tears. Instead it was much more relaxing, easing her into it. As her eyes slowly closed to the melody she was sure she recognized several of the songs played. Midnight Sonata, Deep River, and Nocturne though she was much to sleepy to remember which number it was.

"RISE AND SHINE EVERYPONY!" Applejack's voice rang out across the camp waking everypony from their sound sleep.

Twilight jerked up in her sleeping bag at the sound of the yelling. She was back in her tent with her covers still over her. There was no sign that she went off in the middle of the night to look for Hope.

"_Was that all just a dream?" _she thought as she began to recall the details about the pervious night. That's when she noticed it. Held tightly in her hoof was simple cloth handkerchief with the initials H.R. embroidered into it. It wasn't a dream.

And for some reason that fact made her smile.

End Chapter 4

* * *

><p>Ending Rant: Finally got this thing done. I'm not even going to make an excuse. I've been in some kind of depressionrunt and have had no motivation to write recently. It's terrible I know, but I hope I the publication of this will mark the end of it. Whatever. It's a bit weird writing something again that doesn't involve betrayal and death.


	5. Chapter 5

Sonata de 'crescendo

By: Juggalomalice

Chapter 5

The camp was quickly broke shortly after breakfast as the group of ponies returned to their quest. Applejack's cooking waking up and providing everypony with the energy to greet the new day. Even Rainbow Dash was awake and alert as the excitement of the new world before them slowly drew closer.

"So what's the plan Twilight?" Applejack asked as she hitched herself to the carriage with Rainbow Dash and began pulling.

"If we make good time we should reach the North Wall Fort by tonight, we'll rest there for the night and be off to Coltown by the morning."

"North Wall Fort?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"It's a border fort that was constructed in the old days somewhere around two and a half centuries during the First Griffon War. It's stationed between the Equestrian Mountain ranges and acts as the only entrance into Equestria from the north." Twilight enlightened.

By noon the traveling party was already capable of seeing the grey blotch that was the fort in the horizon with a large Eqestria banner flying over the fort, proudly displaying the soldiers' loyalty. As the small band of ponies drew closer the fort grew dauntingly larger until it completely overshadowed them by the time they arrived at the entrance portcullis of the huge fort.

Massive 50ft tall walls extended as far as the eye could see completely fortifying the mountain valley entrance, numerous archer towers dotted the wall as they extended even further into the sky, as the large duel channeled gatehouse with its imposing iron portcullis controlled the flow of traffic coming in and out of the fort. A large hand-painted wooden sign hung over the gatehouse read, "Welcome to THE WALL" The large heavily defended fort was quite the impressive sight, especially to the young mares that had never seen such military implements except during rare moments in Canterlot.

"This place is wicked awesome." Rainbow Dash said as she stared at the sheer size of the fort.

Several pegasi guards, having noticed them from their posts at the top of the gate house, flew down and greeted them. "Welcome to the Wall. What is the purpose of your visit today?"

Twilight stepped forward, "My name is Twilight Sparkle and…"

"Twilight Sparkle?" One of the guards interrupted her. "Say no more then. We'll open the gates for you immediately." They pair flew back up to their posts and after a short while the portcullis opened allowing them entrance into the castle town.

"I guess they were expecting us." Pinkie Pie said with a smile as she fearlessly leads the way into the unknown. Knowing that there was no turning back the rest followed the pink earth pony inside where they were immediately greeted by a handsome lavender pagasus with a yellow mane and a cutie mark consisting of a knight's lance aimed downward and piercing a bed of clouds.

"Hello, I'm Aerial Lance, Commander of the North Wall and I am honored to welcome the Princess's protégé, Twilight Sparkle and her friends. If there's anything I can do to make your stay here tonight more pleasurable please don't hesitate to ask." He signaled several of his soldiers to come and relieve the group of their bags. "I'm sure you're all very tired from your trip, we've already arranged lodgings for you tonight as well as a hot meal so please feel free to relax and take a load off."

"Well thank you very much for your assistance Commander." Twilight said.

"Please you can call me Lance if you wish Miss. Sparkle." Lance said as he took Twilight's hoof and gave it a gentleman's kiss causing to young mare to blush.

"If that's the case I guess you can call me Twilight if you want?"

"I'm honored to be allowed to address such a beautiful young mare such as you in such a familiar manner." Lance said.

"You flatter me. I'm nothing special." Twilight confessed as her cheeks continued to burn red with embarrassment.

"You sell your charm short my dear lady. One can easily see the grace and beauty of a princess in you and even if you are not a princess I would be greatly honored if you would allow me to be your knight-in-shining-armor even if I know I am not worthy of such a thing. For even as we speak I fear I would sully your perfection if I was to gaze to long at you." Lance spoke with poetic drama.

"Ugh, barf city. If this guy was any cornier he'd come in a can." Rainbow Dash said to herself.

"You're telling me." Hope agreed as he popped out of the carriage and allowed himself to lethargically hang out the side.

"What? You agree with me Hope?"

"Yeah, guys are only like this when they want something. Trust me I know."

"Hmm, I guess it takes a scum bag to recognize a scum bag." Rainbow jested at the bard's expense.

"Oh Rainbow, you are amazing beautiful yourself you know?" Hope casually complimented the pegasus.

"Huh, y-you really think so?" She asked, unsure how to handle the compliment.

"Indeed, it's a shame that such beauty is ruined the moment you open your mouth though." He answered back with a witty smile.

"Oh thanks… wait a minute. You just insulted me didn't you?"

"Twilight, you would do me a great honor if you joined me for dinner tonight in my quarters." Lance asked.

"What, no, well I'm not sure. I have so much planning to do regarding our trip. I really don't think I should be wasting time when I could be gathering information on north." Twilight asked in surprise.

"Yes, I'll be glad to teach you everything I know about the northern realms. Why with my help you'll be an expert by the time you leave tomorrow." Lance offered, as a somewhat arrogant smile graced his handsome features.

"What a ham." Rainbow Dash scoffed.

"Hey Commander, please don't feed her too many lies tonight that you'll make her sick. Unlike you, I actually have to look after these girls for longer than one night and I hate for them to get hurt because you wanted to seem like an expert in a field you know nothing about." Hope exclaimed somewhat loudly with sarcasm, his unexpected outburst shocking all his companions into silence.

"And who are you to be judging my knowledge?" Lance demanded with a roar.

"Just a traveling minstrel. I'm just saying if you're an expert on the northern realms, I must be the elite commander of a border fort."

"That doesn't even make sense. We all know that I'm the commander of this fort." Lance corrected with a stomp of his hoof.

"So that must make me the expert of the northern realms, because we both know we can't be both." Hope explained as a knowing grin graced his face.

Lance sputtered in anger for a few seconds before he finally calmed down and collected himself. "You must be Hope Requiem, the wild card of this group."

"Yeah, that's what ponies know me by."

"When I received the letter from Princess Celestia about the arrival of Twilight's group and went ahead and did a standard background check on each of them as per protocol and you know what I found out Hope? I can call you that, right?" Lance's expression becoming a bit like that of a predator before a kill.

"What did you learn?"

"I learned that there isn't a record for you in Equestria, meaning you don't live in this fine country that you happen to be in. Even more interesting, there's not a single record of you entering the country from any of our border-points yet here you are. You know Hope; if I didn't know better I'd say you entered Equestria illegally."

Hope grinned, clearly enjoying the exciting turn of this conversation, "Really? If you ask me I say the soldiers under your command are just incompetent and just lost my papers especially since I came through the North Wall."

"Didn't you hear me? We don't have a record of you passing through here." Lance shouted back.

Hope closed his eyes as she shrugged his shoulders with a knowing smile, "We it's either they lost my papers or you let somepony sneak across the border during your command, Commander, and I'm sure that won't look good on that shiny military resume of yours."

"Nopony gets through the WALL without me knowing about it and so long as a catch the criminal it won't matter either way." Lance shouted as his hoof shoot out and slammed into Hope's face knocking the shorter colt clear to the ground. "Guards take this lying piece of garbage away."

"Back off Commander Jerk-face!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she dashed in between Hope and the Commander and his guards, "Hope maybe be a sleazy scumbag sometimes, but at least he has the honestly to admit when he's being a sleazy scumbag. In fact he's a lot more honest than you and if he says you're men lost his papers then I believe him."

"You really would trust this nopony over me."

"He's not a nopony. He's my friend, kind of, but even if he's a bit of a jerk I can prove he's more honest than you with one simple question. Which is the largest city-state in the northern realms and what form of government does it have?" Rainbow demanded.

"What?" Lanced exclaimed again as all eyes shifted to him forcing him to answer, "Hmm, the seaport city of Weatherby, Plutocracy."

Hope simply shook his head, "Arcanhoof, Magocracy. Weatherby is a little more than a ruin after the tsunami hit it." His answer causing the other mares to see Lance in a slightly different light.

Rainbow Dash glared at Lance as she pointed a hoof accusingly in his face, "See, you're nothing more than an uptight liar."

Lance's glared back the cyan pagasus as his wings shot out in anger, "Why do you doubt my answer and not his own? At this point it is very well my word against his."

"Maybe because," Hope began as he stood back up and spat some blood out his mouth, "Like myself, Rainbow Dash has realized that unlike me you have a reason to lie to us. You know Commander Aerial Lance, you're not that much older than us and though you probably have an impressive rank now I bet you're still looking for future advancement. Not easy considering the long time peace Equestra has right now. Tell me what it's like to be in charge of a pinnacle military location after it's been turned into little more than a commercial check point. I bet there are plenty of noteworthy actions to get a promotion in inspecting cabbage and other food stuffs." The bard said as he gestured to the several merchants who had come in and were getting their wares inspected. "It would probably be easier to advance if you had a letter of recommendation from somepony important, though I don't know why you would approach Twilight Sparkle. She's nothing special." This last comment shocked the Mane 6 and their dragon companion.

"I guess that's kind of true." Twilight mumbled to herself under her breath. Her expression easily portrayed her hurt emotions.

"Ha, shows what you know. Getting the recommendation of Princess Celestia's hoofpicked student is the same as getting the Princess's approval herself. I would have been promoted and reassigned by the end of the year." Lance bragged into Hope's face with a smile of pride at his plan until he finally realized he said it out loud and had just confessed he wanted to use the lavender unicorn. His prize for this confession, seven pairs of very angry eyes and a smiling bard.

"Come on everpony, we still have an hour or so of light to get out of this place and set up camp somewhere else." Twilight ordered as her friends agreed and began taking back their gear from the soldiers and reloading the carriage.

Lance quickly rushed to Twilight's side, "Twilight my dear, I didn't mean what I said just now I just…"

"Save it Commander and open that gate this instant!" She ordered back interrupting the Lance.

"But…"

"Spike." Twilight called, summing the purple dragon to her side.

"I already got the letter ready to send at your word, Twilight." Spike said as he waved the parchment and quill.

"Commander, you either open this gate now or open it an hour later when the Princess herself comes here to order it and give you a dishonorable discharge." The purple unicorn threatened.

Several sweat drops fell down Aerial Lance's forehead before he finally dropped his head in defeat, "Open the gates." He ordered in a defeated tone.

"Hey Pinkie Pie," Dash called out to her friend, "Help Applejack pulled the carriage while I help treat our loudmouth hero here."

"Okie Doki Loki" Pinkie Pie replied.

"Are you alright, dear." Rarity asked as she assisted Rainbow Dash in escorting the still dazed Hope to the back of the carriage. "I hate it when ruffians like that attack an innocent gentlecolt like yourself."

"Thank you, both of you, but I'll be fine." Hope assured them.

"Still you better let me treat the spit lip. Don't want to risk an infection while on the road." Rainbow Dash offered as she climbed into the back with him.

"Why Rainbow Dash, when have you been an expert in medicine?" Rarity chided.

"Please, I've busted my flank so many times that it's only natural that I pick up a thing or two over the years." The rainbow mane pagasus said with a prideful smile.

"Hey Twilight," Hope called out as he stuck his head back out of the carriage, "I didn't mean what I said about you not being special. I was just trying to trick that jerk into confessing. You're actually pretty incredible, Princess student or not." Hope said in apology.

"I know Hope, but thank you for saying it anyway." Twilight said as she hid a smile and blush.

"Hey, and what am I? Shredded wheat?" Rainbow Dash whined.

Hope gave a light laugh, "And you too Rainbow Dash. I didn't expect you to step in and help me out like that. If you didn't there's a good chance I'd be rotting in a cell right now, thank you."

"Well I guess I can be pretty awesome sometimes." Dash said as she congratulatory complimented herself.

"Yeah, I guess you are." Hope agreed.

"I mean you're totally lucky I was there to protect you otherwise that guy would have easily beaten up even more."

"You're probably right on that too." He admitted once again.

"I mean if you want to bow down and proclaim my greatness to the world you can. You should be pretty happy just to be my friend and all so if you want to be my servant for a day or something in thanks I just might let you." She continued.

"Dash, you're ruining them again."

"Huh, ruining what?" She questioned out loud before she remembered their earlier conversation and blushed. "You jerk!" She shouted from inside the carriage as she lightly slapped him.

"AWWW, my lip you crazy mare!" Hope shouted back.

Everypony outside laughed as they listened to the two argue back and forth as the carriage began to move and they took their first steps outside of North Wall Fort and for the first time for all but one of them…

Outside of Equestria.

End Chapter 5.


	6. Chapter 6

It's short, but I have in exam in less than 20minutes so I'll write a longer update later.

Sonata de 'crescendo

By: Juggalomalice

Chapter 6

"I'm not saying we should have stayed in that fort with that terrible, though handsome, Lance fellow. I'm just saying, I wished we could have stayed long enough for me too at least take a bath. It's been several days since we've bathed and I'm thinking I'm starting to get BO." Rarity complained.

"You've always had a bit of a smell Rarity; just some of us were too kind to tell you." Applejack jested as she stirred the soup kettle.

"Ha, this smell is nothing. Now me after a hard day of training, now that's a smell." Rainbow Dash bragged.

"I won't deny that after a hard day of apple bucking a good bath is a welcomed sight." Applejack confessed.

"Don't worry Rarity. Some colts like that natural female body musk." Hope said as he laid on his back staring at the night stars.

"Don't tell me your one of them?" Rarity exclaimed in a near shout.

"I am a cosmopolitan, so I will confess that I'm a colt of many tastes." Hope said with a false air of sophistication.

Rainbow Dash floated above the bard and gave him a stern look, "So you admit you're a smell pervert?

"I admit nothing, except that I owe you all an apology." Hope said, his voice taking on a bit more of a serious tone.

Twilight looked up from her maps at this and asked "Why do you think that?"

"Because you all trusted me and I haven't entirely been honest with you, but that's about to change."

"Whatever do you mean?" Rarity asked.

Hope rolled over and sat up as he bowed his head apologetically, "It's about what that Lance guy said back there. He was right about me, at least the part about me entering Equestria illegally. So, I'm sorry I lied to you all."

"Yeah, I figured something like that. I'm sure you had a good reason to lie though." Rainbow Dash admitted nonchalantly at figuring the whole thing out.

"I have to agree with Rainbow Dash there. If you hadn't lied you be in a bit of a pickle as well." Applejack consoled

"Yeah and that Lance guy looked so mean and serious. He was all 'arrgh' and didn't look like he enjoyed parties. He was probably a big party pooper pants, you seem to really like parties." Pinkie Pie declared.

"So long as I provided the entertainment I usually do." Hope jested.

"And you don't scream so much. That Lance pony was screaming half the time and he was really loud and scary and I find uniforms a bit intimidating too, but not you Hope. You're very nice and always have a smile on your face. Even if you did lie, I'm sure it was for a good cause." Fluttershy confessed as well.

"So don't worry about that, but it does bring up another question?" Rainbow Dash asked as she began to ponder the possibilities.

"Ask and I'll try my best to answer it."

"Why did you do it in the first place? Illegally cross the border that is? Also, if you knew you did something wrong why did you start a fight? You could have just sat back quietly and that guy probably would have overlooked you." The cyan Pegasus asked.

"Well to answer your first question, I don't know why. I can' really remember." Hope said with a lighthearted laugh.

"What do you mean you don't remember?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed in his face.

"He means exactly what he said, he doesn't remember." Twilight interrupted, "Hope was in ground zero when Discord escaped and the resulting magical explosion damaged his memory. When he says he doesn't remember why he came here he means."

"Crazy isn't it? Though I'm sure my memories will return. When they do I'll be glad to tell you my reasons." Hope assured them all with a smile. Twilight looked away with a sad expression.

"Hope, I think it's time I be honest with you about something. I got a letter from Princess Celestia yesterday. In it she was giving me the doctor's reports about the other ponies that were injured during the whole Discord event. I'm sorry to barely be telling you this, but due to the chaotic nature of Discord's magic there's a chance you'll never get back those memories you've lost." The purple unicorn confessed. The shocking news caused gasps from everyone around as they looked at Hope for his reaction.

Hope continued to Smile, though it seemed slightly more forced now. "That's not your fault. It's probably for the best anyway."

"Hope, its ok to be sad. You've just learned that half your life may be gone forever." Twilight consoled.

"Like I said, it's ok. It's hard to explain, but ever since I saw you for the first time Twilight, I feel like my whole life before that moment was just a big nightmare. Just one bad event after another and like a nightmare it might be best if I just remember vague and general details about my past. Enough to get us by, but not enough to remember why I was running away from it." Hope's smile brightened as he looked up and everypony, "Anyway, soon I'll be returning to those problems again, because there's no way I'll be able to get through that checkpoint again." He said with a careless laugh as he gestured to the fort behind them.

"That's right. You probably came to Equestria to start a new life like so many others and probably just lucked out since the ponies at the fort aren't accustomed to illegal immigration. Now that they're aware of you they'll definitely tighten up security. I'm sorry Hope, because of our problems we made you leave the home you tried so hard to get."

"I keep saying it's not your fault. Don't worry about me." He assured them once more. Despite his words, everypony else couldn't help but feel a little disheartened about the situation.

"I know, let's throw a party!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she threw confetti into the air.

"We can't have a party!" Hope suddenly shouted as he stood up causing confused stares, "At least not until I adjust my insturtment so we can get some proper dance music here."

A cheer went off in the camp as Twilight watched her friends began their little evening celebration. She herself would be joining them soon. She simple had to finish one last thing.

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_I thank you for your concern in your last letter as well as for the medical report for the ponies that were injured during Discord's escape. To answer your questions, from my observations, the pony known has Hope Requiem has made no progress towards regaining his lost memories since his departure of Canterlot. This, along with the report, is not a good sign for the other ponies that have lost memories. Thankfully there has also been no sign of further memory deterioration. Though Hope has displayed some strange personality quirks, I believe these are merely signs of harsher environmental conditioning and cultural differentials. Hope displays great kindness and forgiveness as well as a deep appreciation and understanding of friendship followed by an amazing talent with music. I was very concerned when you mentioned that several of the injured ponies showed signs of being 'Discorded', but as I sit here and watch him smile as he celebrates for the sheer joy of celebration I can confidently say that besides memory loss Hope Requiem is not suffering from any other lingering effects of Discord's magic._

_Your Faithful Student_

_Twilight Sparkle_

End Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

Sonata de 'crescendo

By: Juggalomalice

Chapter 7: Coltown Part 1

"What you suppose it is?" Applejack asked.

"Well it's clearly a road sign." Twilight answered, though her reply was a bit doubtful.

"Well I can tell that, but what you think it's made of?"

"Some kind of translucent red plastic?"

"I've never seen plastic that jiggled liked this." Fluttershy commented as she poked the sign causing it to wiggle.

"Hold up!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she popped in between her friends and the sign, "I know that jiggle anywhere."

"You do?" Rainbow Dash asked, her tone displaying doubt in her friends intuition.

"Yup." The pink pony said with a smile as she opened her mouth wide and took a large bite of the sign.

"Pinkie!" Her friends shouted in unison.

The pink earth pony looked back at her friends with surprised, "What?" She asked with a large mouthful of red road sign as she chewed and swallowed. "It's cherry jello."

"What?" Twilight Sparkle questioned as she approached the sign and with a cautious sniff gave the sign a lick. "She's right."

"Why would a town make their road sign out of fruit gelatin?" Applejack asked.

"I don't think it's just the sign." Rainbow Dash asked as she hovered a few feet above her friends and scanned their surroundings. A great number of the surrounding trees, plants and even rocks jiggled with the viscosity of the loved fruit snack.

"It's has to be Discord." Twilight Sparkle declared, her eyes narrowing as she was reminded of the importance of their mission.

"Oh come on Twilight. This is not so bad." Pinkie confessed as she rushed to various objects and bit into them, trying out their taste. "You've got to taste this tree. It's delicious." She offered.

"Come on everypony. Coltown must be close by."

The party continued down the road for a short time until the sight of the bright multicolored town of Coltown laid before them. As they had already expected, everything in the town was made of gelatin. From the homes to the central fountain which now sprayed liquefied jello instead of water, but what shocked everypony were the inhabitants. Not only was the whole town turned into gelatin, but the ponies that lived in it too.

"Oh my gosh, a gelatin fountain!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she rushed towards the fountain and jumped in. A splash of fruit gel sprayed into the air as Pinkie opened her mouth and allowed the magical fruit snack to flow into her mouth. "To think I would get to live out a fillyhood dream like this. Life is great."

Twilight Sparkle simply rolled her eyes at her friend as she approached a yellow lemon flavored colt. "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. What happened here?"

"A few days ago a strange creature calling himself Discord showed up in town and starting playing pranks on everypony. We here like to think we can take a joke, but after a while everyone just got fed up with him." The colt explained.

"And then what happened?" Twilight asked urging him on as her friends drew closer to hear the story.

So everypony got together to try to convince him to leave town. That's when he said we were all such a boring town and needed a bit of flavor in our lives. With that he snapped his talons and disappeared. We didn't think at the time that when he said we needed flavor he meant it literally."

"That sounds like Discord alright." Applejack concurred.

"Wait a moment!" Hope cried out as he hopped out of the carriage, "Let me get this straight. Discord came, said you needed flavor in your lives and turned you into gummies?"

"Hmm, in a nutshell yeah."

Hoped began laughing as he fell on his back. "That's so random it's stupid."

"Hope, be a bit more sensitive. These ponies have gone through a lot." Twilight hissed.

"I'm sorry Twilight, dear. It's just with everything you said about Discord I was expecting something a bit more malicious. Like a curse that made bats fly out of everypony's butt, but not this. This is stupid!" Hope nearly shouted in between fits of laughter as he pointed at the lemon stallion. "This is the type of curse a stupid pony would make." He chided as he fell back to the ground laughing shortly joined by Pinkie Pie at this side.

"I don't know what we're laughing at." The pink earth pony confessed in between giggles.

"Hey, I know there's nothing anypony can do to help us, but you don't have to be so mean about it." The stallion moped.

"No reason to be sour?" Hope began with a straight face before he burst out laughing, "Sour! Get it? Because you're lemon favored." Pinkie Pie immediately joined him in his laughter again, though if it was because she got the bad pun, no pony knew.

"Sour, that's so dumb that it's actually kind of funny." Rainbow Dash admitted with a chuckle.

"Rainbow Dash, don't encourage him. This is serious and we need to treat it seriously." The purple unicorn chided.

"It's alright Miss." The lemon colt assured her, "Just about everypony here has gotten use to the jokes. I mean, nopony knows how we can return to normal, so we figured we all might as well reside ourselves to our fates."

"A bit of a fatalist there, aren't you? Somepony has to be looking into a fix, right?" Hope said seriously after the young colt's lackluster reply.

"No, we all pretty much accepted this new life style."

"Aren't you jumping the gun a bit?" Applejack asked as she stepped forward, "If no one's looked for a solution, how can you be sure there isn't one?"

"Well how can you be sure there is one?" He replied back, almost mockingly, as a crowd of other town ponies slowly gathered around them.

"I'll be honest, I don't rightly know if there is one, but if you don't at least try to look you'll never have an answer." She stated proudly.

"_You need to hope for the future, there's always a solution. You need to hope for the future, we can find a resolution." _Pinkie Pie sang as she hopped around trying her best to cheer up the town ponies.

"Don't be absurd!" An older male unicorn shouted. His cutie mark, barely visible on the transparent jelly of his flank, consisted of a book and quill. "I use to do research in Arcanohoof when I was younger and I can assure you that no known magic can do what was done by that creature that came here. This transmutation resists all known restoration magic. It just doesn't make sense. The only way I can see us ever returning to normal is if we somehow convince this Discord creature to come back and reverse the effects, but then we don't even know where he went. It's just hopeless, for all of us."

"That's not true. You can't give up just yet. We've all dealt with Discord's magic before and we can assure there are ways to undo the affects, but you have to believe there's a way. Nothing will change if you don't want it too." Twilight spoke up, trying her best to ruse the town's spirits.

"Humph, why should we listen to you?"

"Yeah, what makes you think you can help us when no one else can?"

Twilight found herself assaulted from all sides by neigh-sayers. Her only reassurance was that she had her friends by her side so she could draw confidence from and… was Hope playing music? She barely noticed it until now, but he was quietly playing an inspirational riff. It wasn't loud enough to overshadow her words, but just loud enough to act like background music for her. She couldn't help but feel a bit more capable. Like some actress on a stage during their big monologue.

"Why should you listen to us? Because we can help you, you just have to believe. Not only in us, but in yourselves. You may not know us, but we want to help yet we can't do that if you don't let us. Discord's magic works on the power of chaos. Of disharmony, but if we all gather together and believe we can fix it using the magic of harmony. It can be done. You just have to give us time to figure out how." Twilight spoke inspirationally. In the midst of her speech she had walked up onto the fountain and was using it as a podium.

"That's all nice and good, but just who are you?" A cherry mare asked.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends. We've come here from Equestria on the orders of Princess Celestia."

The mention of the Princess and of Equestria and immediate effects as the ponies around them all began to chatter with excitement.

"All the way from Equestria they say."

"I was starting to think the Princess had forgotten about us all the way out here."

"It's nice to know they still care."

"Does that mean she works for the Princess?"

"Twilight Sparkle?" Another elderly mare repeated the name out load as if she were tasting it, "I know that name is important. Isn't Twilight Sparkle the name of the Princess's daughter?"

"Well no…" Twilight tried to correct the older mare despite her embarrassment, but this new tidbit of misinformation had already spread among the crowd.

"A real life Princess you say and in our little town. Never thought I'd live to see the day."

"That explains that natural leadership quality she has and that lovely mane. Clearly regal in upbringing"

"I hear she's suppose too be some kind of unicorn prodigy with all sorts of magical knowledge and power. I'm sure she can help us."

"Hey, if you're a Princess where's your crown?" This last question seem to spread to the group even more as soon the whole town was demanding to see her "crown" as if that would prove their suspicions and hopes.

"I'm sorry everypony, but you seem to be mistaken. I don't have a crown and…" But before Twilight could finish her explanation Spike had already spoken up and cut her off as he was prone to do.

"Sure you do Twilight. It's right here." The little dragon said as he dug into her saddlebags and pulled out the Element of Magic before placing it on her head.

This simple action had a profuse effect on the town ponies. Upon seeing the crown on her head they all immediately started bowing to her. They were now "100%" sure she was royalty.

"Forgive our rudeness, your majesty. We didn't recognize you."

"It's alright. You don't have to apologize, but I'm not…" Again the poor purple unicorn was cut off.

"Such a forgiving young mare. Exactly what you expect from a princess. Her mother must be proud."

"Yeah, she must be proud, right PRINCESS?" Rainbow Dash teased as she knowingly nudged her friend.

"Twilight, you're a princess and you never told me. That means I have to throw a _Congratulations on becoming a Princess_ party." Pinkie Pie squealed as she became prancing around Twilight.

"But I'm not… I wasn't trying to… I" Twilight stammered as she climbed down the fountain.

"It's OK sugercube. We know you didn't mean for it to turn out like this and I don't like it any more than you do, but I reckoning that these ponyfolk aren't going to be listening anytime soon either. Might as well let them believe what they want until we can undo this damage at the least. At least they're cooperating now." Applejack advised.

"And you must admit that _Princess Twilight Sparkle_ does have a certain ring to it." Rarity commented.

"Princess!" A purple grape stallion called out as the crowd began to thin out. "Princess, pleasure to meet you." The stallion said with a deep bow. His cutie mark looked like some kind of bar graph. "My name is Pol, Political Pol. I'm the mayor of this tiny little town and I must confess what an honor it is to have you here."

"Please, you don't have to call me that. Just Twilight will do." Twilight offered in an attempt to get the mayor to drop the fake title.

"I apologize again. You were probably traveling incognito, right? I've read my share of books. I understand, TWILIGHT." He said as he gave her a wink and a nudge. Twilight simply sighed in defeat. "As I was about to say, allow me to offer you and your companions free room and board at the local inn. It's probably not as fancy as what you're used to, but I'm sure it'll be better than sleeping outside." Political Pol offered as he led them to the local inn.

Political Pol led the group to a quaint two-story home with a clear old-English architecture style to it. It was clearly one of the oldest buildings in the town and there were clear signs of additions being built into the home, probably to accommodate more guests. A sign out front read, "The Rising Pony" and featured a sketch of a pony waking up with a yawn after a good night's rest. What caught everypony by surprise was the fact that it was the only building in the town that wasn't made of jelly. It made no sense why this building would be spared, but considering Discord's random sense of humor and nature it made perfect sense in a strange way.

"The local inn is owned and ran by Coltown's own beautiful flower, Calla Lily. She'll take right good care of you she will." Pol said as she opened the door for the "Princess" and her entourage before following in.

The inside of the building was also unscathed by Discord's magic. Paintings of past owners and guests of importance decorated the walls as the windows, dressed in lovely red and purple curtains, cascaded the rooms in a soft display of reds and purples. A number of vases were on display, each one proudly displaying various species of lilies, their sweet aroma mixing with the clean earthen smell of the wooden walls and floors. On the other end of the main room that they stood in was a finely crafted check-in counter where a beautiful, violet, gummy mare sat with her head in her hooves on the counter.

"What do you want Pol?" The mare said in a voice that would have put a Canterlot actress to shame as she lifted her head up too look at the group.

"No reason to be rude Miss. Lily. We have special guests visiting us all the way from Canterlot." Pol replied.

"You're a terrible colt Pol. Bringing guests too gaze upon me when I'm at my worst like some sideshow. We'll I'll have none of it, be gone." She replied back in a demeanor similar to Rarity's. It was hard to understand why she was upset though. Despite her being a purple gummy her beauty was quite obvious. With what was clearly a luscious mane at one point and a figure that could make the trophy wives of the Canterlot elite jealous, she was a sight to behold. All this was adorned by a lovely sun-kissed lily on her flank.

"Now Lily, don't be so hastily. We need to give the best comforts we have to these fine ponies." Pol retorted as he approached the counter. "They're R-O-Y-A-L-T-Y!" he spelled out in a loud whisper.

"You would trot me out in front of such high class guests and expect me not to throw a fit? I suppose when dinner comes I can serve them some gummy hay fries and with breakfast give them gummy eggs as well. All the food in this town is jelly and you expect me to cater to such refined taste. It's all the better I turn them away now and save them the disappointment!" She shouted as she turned her head away. Her word was final and Pol had no chance of changing it.

Pol turned away as walked back to the group with a forced smile on his jelly face, "Well it seems like poor Lily here is booked for the night." He lied. "Why don't let you all stay at my place? Its jello, but it's still better than sleeping outside. "

"But where will you sleep?" Twilight asked.

"Oh I'm sure I can find a comfy box or something. Just so long as you're accommodated for." Pol assured them, his smile ever so present.

"No, we couldn't intrude on you in such a manner." the "princess" said, politely refusing.

"No, I insist"

"Allow me to speak with her." Hope volunteered before anypony could interject. "Before you ask, I'm about to be a scumbag, but at least I have the decency to admit it." He briefly said over his shoulder before he approached the counter.

"Oh this isn't good. Miss. Lily has never changed her mind about anything." Pol said with a nervous expression.

Whatever the exchange was between Hope and Lily it remained a mystery as the two spoke in a tone much to low too hear from where they stood. Lily seemed disinterred at first, dismissing the bard's attempts to speak with her, but he persisted. After a minute he was behind the counter with his hoof draped around her shoulders and whispering something in her ear which caused the mare to become rather giddy. Laughs, blushes and whispered nothings were exchanged between the two before Hope propped himself up to sit on the counter as he began to play a slow sonata, the mare hopelessly infatuated by this time. A short ballad later and a kiss to her translucent, but clearly blushing cheek, Hope walked back the group.

"She said we can stay." He said with a mild laugh at the looks of surprise he was receiving from everypony.

"How did you do that?" Pol asked with a look of shock and jealousy.

"My looks may get me in the door, but it's my words that get me in bed." The bard jested with a knowing grin, taking pleasure in the blushes his comment had aroused from his audience.

"Can you teach me to do that?" Spike nervously asked.

"Spike?!" Twilight half-shouted at the suddenness of the dragon's question.

"Come now children. If you don't move fast she just might change her mind. I for one don't plan on turning down a chance to get a bath and sleeping in a real bed." Rarity urged the group on as they all headed upstairs to their respective rooms.

"Colts and mares in separate rooms!" Lilly's voice yelled at them from downstairs.

"I guess I should have seen that coming." Hope said as he split off from the group and entered a room on his own. Before he could fully close it he found a cyan pagasus as his side with a somewhat suspicious look on her face.

"Alright Hope, spill the beans. You used some kind of hypno-spell or something on that girl didn't you? Similar to the one you used on me the first time we met." Rainbow accused.

Twilight heard this as spun around two face the two as well. "Hope, how could you? That's a terrible misuse of magic." She nearly shouted.

"Calm down. I didn't use any magic. It was just natural charm." He said in his defense.

"So you just talk, play a few cheap songs and women naturally fall in love with you?" Rainbow questioned with a look of non-belief.

"Well I like to think my songs aren't cheap, but yes. For the most part that's exactly how it works."

"I don't buy it. You have to have some kind of trick up your sleeve."

"Well I could do the same to you if you want me to prove it. Though I admit a love-struck Rainbow Dash would be funny, it would also probably deprive us of any practical use you may be to the party."

"In your dreams pal. I don't buy into all that mushy love stuff." She said with proud defiance.

With a step and a slide Hope was immediately violated the blue mare's personal space. "Says the mare who always blushes every time I compliment her." He whispered in her ear suggestively. Rainbow Dash immediate panicked and back pedaled away from him. Her face burning red as Hope laughed at her discomfort. "I'll be in my room if you girls need me." He finally said before closing the door.

"Spike, you heard Lilly. You're going to have to sleep with Hope while we're staying here." Twilight informed the baby dragon.

"Well if you say so Twilight."

"Good, I'm glad you understand. Go rest up for the evening, because we have a lot of work to do tomorrow if we want to figure out how to undo what Discord did here. Do you want me to stop by later tonight to tuck you in for bed?" She offered

"Twilight, I'm not a baby anymore. You don't have to tuck me in every night." Spike said with a mild look of disgust as he entered Hope's room. The rest of the remaining ponies split into two groups of three per room: Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash in one room and Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie in the other.

Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash's room

"This place doesn't look so bad." Rainbow said as she dashed to claim the window side bed before jumping on it a bit. "Hmm, not as comfy as a cloud, but I guess it'll do." She glanced at the window skywards. "Considering how much further north we are and our distance to griffin lands it'll probably be a bit colder than what we're use too back in Ponyville."

"Well if you get cold I'm sure we can convince Hope to nuzzle up next to you and warm you right up, Sugercube." Applejack joked.

"What does that mean?" A red faced Rainbow Dash screamed.

"It's just a joke Dash. He does seem to have a knack for pressing your buttons, doesn't he?" Applejack taunted as she nudged the pagasus.

"No he doesn't. He just catches me off guard with a lot of the things he says." The rainbow mane pagasus defended.

"Well I grant you that he may be a little too flirty for his own good, I don't like it myself. He clearly just demonstrated that he has a sliver tongue. I just hope it he doesn't have a forked one as well." The farm pony confessed.

"Applejack dear, aren't you being a little too harsh on him?" Rarity piped up as she remade her bed, not happy with its current arrangement.

"What you talking about Rarity?"

"Well think about it dear. Hope's stature is slightly shorter than your average stallion and although he jokes about it I think he knows full well that either one of you two can overpower him."

"Well I guess you have a point on that." Rainbow Dash admitted with some thought.

"Remember back in middle school what would happen to the smallest and weakest boy?" The white unicorn continued.

"He was picked on, a lot." Applejack admitted with a raised brow, no quite sure where Rarity was going with this.

"And who do you think was the smallest and weakest boy in Hope's class?" Rarity asked. She waited long enough for realization to dawn on her two friends, before she continued. "You see not all of us are gifted with the strength and agility you two possess. Some of us," she said as she pointed to herself as if she was now referring to a group which included Hope and her as well, "Need to rely on more subtly and charm to get our goals accomplished. I for one applaud Hope's nonviolent ways and his ability to overcome his shortcomings so well. It's a shame that such a talented and charming colt as himself has to be out here fending for himself every day. He should be in a place like Canterlot where his talent and charm can be fully appreciated."

"Well fine, I'll give you that, but I wish he didn't say some of things he does. I'm not use to compliments like that so it's really embarrassing." The cyan pagasus admitted.

"It's probably because of that "in your face" personality of yours, dear. He's just trying to defuse the argument tactfully."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Not like I was taking any of his dumb compliments seriously." Rainbow Dash said dismissively with a smile before making herself comfortable in her bed. "I mean, I know I'm not really pretty." She whispered to herself as her ears deflated.

End chapter 6


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